Tyson Foods shuffles its PR staff duties

SPRINGDALE, AK: Longtime Tyson Foods media spokesman Ed Nicholson is being moved into a new post, director of corporate, community, and PR.

He will focus on outreach to the community where Tyson does business, as well as on brand and corporate image issues.

Gary Mickelson, who joined Tyson in 2001, when it bought his former employer, meat processor IBP, will become director of corporate media relations and the company's primary media spokesperson. Mickelson has moved from the former IBP offices in South Dakota to Tyson's Arkansas headquarters.

Mickelson said the communications changes reflect Tyson's growth. "These new assignments will help us communicate to our new audiences," he said. Once only a chicken processor, Tyson expanded into the red meat category when it bought IBP.

Mickelson said the moves are unrelated to a possible Securities and Exchange Commission suit against Tyson, which the company announced last Monday.